After life: Kelly Reilly, Greg Kinnear and Connor Corum in a scene from the motion picture ?Heaven Is for Real.? Courtesy TriStar Pictures

Written by

Kirsten Powers

Heaven is making headlines. The film "Heaven Is for Real," based on the best-selling book by the same name, surprised last week by opening at No. 1 at the box office. It recounts the near-death experience of a 4-year-old boy who awoke with reports of visiting heaven.

It belongs to the popular genre of real-life stories of the hereafter, such as "90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death and Life" and "Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife."

Even Michael Bloomberg has been musing on the pearly gates. In an interview last week, he said, "I am telling you if there is a God, when I ...